|   Mr. Mortified needs to have a rebirth, resurrection and a new life. He needs redemption. But how can he experience new life when he cannot let
go of the past. The past needs to be deleted --taken out of the way --torn out of the book, as it were.
ON DEATH AND RESURECTION
To renounce all is to gain all; to descend is to rise; to die is to live.
--KARL RAHNER (1904–1984)
I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black;
It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back.
They buried my body and they thought I’d gone;
But I am the dance and I still go on:
Dance, then, wherever you may be;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.
--SYDNEY CARTER
The same power that brought Christ back from the dead is operative within those who are Christ’s. The Resurrection is an ongoing thing.
--LEON MORRIS |
New life always comes through death and resurrection. Kernels from a plucked (dieing) ear of corn can be planted (buried) in the ground resulting in new life (resurrection). This literally happens in the film. However, new life at the expense of others is wrong. Real new life happens only through the dead of one’s old self. Mort never did put to death his evil
self. Instead, his “new life” was through the death of others, including Amy, his wife. In a word, he chose evil. It has always interested me that in the English language “evil” is “live” spelled backwards. Mort chose the former over the latter.
Spiritual rebirth means dying to the old life. When a person dies to the old life and is united with Christ, a new life begins. The natural mind-set is centered on personal gratification. Those who don’t follow Christ have only their own self-determination as their source of power. By contrast, God is at the center of a Christ centered life. God supplies the power for the
Christian’s daily living. Believers find that their whole way of looking at the world changes when they come to Christ.
Romans 8:2-11 (NLT)
For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses could not save us, because of our sinful nature. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful. God destroyed sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the requirement of the law would be fully accomplished for us who no longer
follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death. But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will. That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them are not Christians at all.) Since Christ lives within you, even though your body will die because of sin, your spirit is alive because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as he raised Christ from the dead, he will
give life to your mortal body by this same Spirit living within you.
Ephes. 2:4-5 (NLT)
But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's special favor that you have been saved!)
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